Clerks criticize Ashland’s step downgrade as ‘demoralizing’ and ‘insulting’; city leaders say the changes stem from an overdue wage study

By Damian Mann for Ashland.news

Two Ashland city clerks expressed dismay Tuesday at the new salary structure approved this month by the City Council, calling it “demoralizing” and “insulting” compared to hefty increases for management.

The two women, who asked that their names not be revealed for fear of retribution, spoke extensively to Councilor Bob Kaplan, Mayor Tonya Graham and Councilor Gina DuQuenne at the latest Tea & Conversations, which was changed from Coffee & Conversations because of the heatwave.

The event, with about 20 people in attendance, was held at the Ashland Senior Center at Hunter Park and provided an occasion for council members to speak one-on-one with residents.

The two city employees, part of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Clerical, articulated their dismay at the recently approved salary structure that results in a downgrade in their “step” increases, which are given based on years of service.

“It’s like a demotion,” said one almost two-year employee, who will be referred to as “Clerk A” to protect her identity. “They’re putting us on a pay scale as if we were a brand new employee.”

She called the demotion “insulting” and said the communication about the bargaining agreement from management and the union has been lacking.  Clerk B, who will be with the city two years in February 2026, said communication from the city has been lacking.

“We’re still in the dark from HR (Human Resources),” she said.

Clerk B said she was poised to go to step 2 in December, but instead will remain at step 1 under the new agreement.
Clerk A said she was ready to go to step 3 at the end of the year, but is instead dropping back to step 1, she said.  Other coworkers who would have been eligible to go to step 4 are going back to step 1 as well, the clerks said.

“Explain to me how that is fair,” Clerk A said.

Clerk B said, “An employee who gets hired tomorrow gets paid as much as us.”  

Both Clerk A and Clerk B said they would have preferred to move up a step rather than receive the full cost-of-living increases because they feel that it would better reflect the value the city places on their positions.

“It would be more fair to get the step increases but not the wage increases,” said Clerk A. “We’re not being greedy. We don’t think we should get 12, 14, or 19% raises like some city employees are. That’s incredibly egregious in my opinion.”

Nine of the 92 staff, supervisors and management positions listed in tables on the city human resources page are receiving double-digit raises by percentage. Three are park technician positions earning around $25 an hour (11.8 to 12.8%); three are human resources positions earning $80,000 to $90,000 a year (11.9 to 19.4%); one is a network administrator position, also in the $80,000-plus range (19.4%); one is an IT position that was making $112,000 a year (10.5%); and one is the fire chief position, which is currently vacant (12.2%).

The two clerks were not involved in the bargaining sessions between the city and their union that led to the new bargaining agreement, which the city approved earlier this month.

A representative from IBEW Clerical could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

As a result of the new step structure, both clerks said it will likely lead to lower morale among employees, some of whom might leave for other jobs, diminishing the services provided to the public over time.

“There is less people to address the public’s service needs,” Clerk A said, noting that it took a year for her to fully understand the systems used by the city to perform her tasks.

She said the public has voiced disapproval of the wage increases but said they amount to only a minimal salary bump for many employees. ‘You guys are aware that those who benefited the most are the administration of the city, not us,” she said.

Clerk B said it’s particularly disheartening amid “this big talk about the management getting these insane wages.”

The city manager, the city’s highest paid employee, got a 5.4% increase to $207,563.20 a year.

The salary adjustments and step changes partially grew out of a study of comparable positions in the state and are designed to make the city more competitive in attracting new workers. The last time the city conducted a study of comparable wages was more than 15 years ago.

Kaplan said not all management level employees got “insane wages,” saying, “Some yes and some no.”

As to salaries for rank-and-file workers, Kaplan said, “I was confident and pleased that no one was getting a downgrade, nobody was getting a salary cut as a result of the compensation package.”

Kaplan said the public sector has followed similar approaches to the one the council just approved.

He did sympathize with the two clerks after they explained their situation in detail to him.

“I understand your perspective,” he said. “It’s too bad it was demoralizing for you. It was not the intention.”

He said it was also too bad the city waited so long to do a salary study that led to the need to change the step structure, leading to the disruptive situation the two women are facing.

“You’ve been, in a sense, not valued,” Kaplan said.

He said he had thought that the proposal to downgrade the step increases while providing the cost of living increase was the best alternative considered.

He said that retaining the previous step structure and a COLA increase would have been a more expensive option for the city.  Clerk A responded to Kaplan that there is a downside to step demotions. “Is it not more costly to replace a whole department of employees?” she said.

When workers leave, the cost to hire and train new employees is higher than the cost to retain existing employees, Clerk A said.

Kaplan said the salary study comparison looked at various options to address the issue, but each of the various options to correct it had its drawbacks.

Clerk A responded to Kaplan that she hasn’t focused on her specific increase yet, saying she thinks its a 2.5% COLA bump, but remains more concerned about the step demotion.

“For me it’s about our time and the time we put into work in our positions that is being dismissed completely,” she said.
Clerk A said she watched the council meeting where Kaplan voted for the new salaries, but she said she told him that the council doesn’t get a full picture of the changes.

“Your presumption is that the union approved it, so it should be good,” she said.

Kaplan said that in addition to the council meeting to approve the new salary structure, the council had a study session the day before where additional questions were asked about some of the impacts.

Clerk B said HR knows she and others are concerned and upset, but she said HR has presented scant communication to employees. “We’ve been sideswiped by all of it.”

Clerk A said the response from the union has been minimal as well.

Kaplan said he’d heard that some employees thought they were under-compensated in their positions compared to other cities, and the new compensation package helped address that.

“It’s too bad, from my perspective, that it took so long to make adjustments to the salary schedule,” he said. “It should have been done eight years ago.”

After Mayor Tonya Graham spoke to the two women before Kaplan’s conversation, she said, “Let me dig into this and see what you’re seeing.”

She told the employees that she had to be careful because of her role on the council in the middle of this issue.

Councilor DuQuenne listened in at the end of the conversation with the two women, saying she was “sorry” for what they’re going through.

DuQuenne, who voted against the salary increases, was concerned about the lack of communication from the city to address the women’s situation.

“The communication is important,” she said.

Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at [email protected]. Ashland.news editor Bert Etling contributed to this report.

Related stories:

After heated debate, Ashland mayor casts tie-breaking vote to approve pay raises (Aug. 6, 2025)

City pay raises to top City Council discussions Monday and Tuesday (Aug. 1, 2025)

Ashland officials and labor union reach tentative agreement (July 25, 2025)

A closer look at the proposed pay raise for city employees (June 22, 2025)

Council postpones vote on proposed cost-of-living and benefit increases for city employees (June 18, 2025)